Lions Tour: Goodhue, Matich ready for home battle

Northland's Josh Goodhue is excited to run out on Toll Stadium for the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians. Photo/John Stone

The New Zealand Provincial Barbarians clash with the British and Irish Lions on Saturday is a special encounter for two Northlanders.

Lock Josh Goodhue and loose forward Matt Matich will get to run out on Toll Stadium to take on the most famous touring side in rugby.

Goodhue said the fixture presents a fantastic opportunity.

"It means a lot to be selected for this side. Not many players get the opportunity to play against the Lions and to get to do that for the Barbarians and at my home ground is pretty awesome," he said.

"I had to buy a lot of extra tickets for the family. I grabbed an extra eight to go with the couple I got.

"There's a good buzz in the camp. Everyone's training well and they've managed to get a good bunch of guys together. We get along well and we're all pretty excited."

Goodhue is having a big year on the field, making his Super Rugby debut off the bench for the Blues.

Matich, Northland's player of the year in 2016, said the chance to play the Lions was something he was not expecting to do in his rugby career.

"I didn't ever really think about facing the Lions," he said.

"Once that Provincial Barbarians game got announced I thought that's the one I can have a crack at but if you asked me three years ago about the Lions I would not have said yes very confidently.

"It's pretty buzzy. Coming up against one of the best teams in the world, they beat Australia last time they toured. It's a real fight of a professional team against a bunch of battlers."

The Lions, who arrive in Whangarei on Friday afternoon, come to New Zealand boasting an impressive forward pack that stood out in the forward-dominated European competitions.

The likes of Maro Itoje, Alun Wyn Jones and Sam Warburton headline the forward pack but Goodhue is eagerly awaiting the challenge.

"I'm pretty excited by the prospect of playing those locks," he said.

"They haven't named them yet but it will be a great challenge. Itoje is only a year older than me and he's already one of the best locks in the world already so it would be pretty exciting to come up against him."

Matich can't wait to get out and play in front of a raucous home crowd.

"The atmosphere itself will be huge. I remember coming off at halftime during the Waikato game last season and the crowd was really pumped up and there was probably only 4000 people there," he said.

"So I have no idea what it'll be like in front of 20,000.

"It's great to have it at home and play in front of family. I have some coming from Perth. My partner's mum and dad are heading here from Argentina."

Both the Barbarians and the Lions line-ups for the match will be announced on Thursday. Tickets are still available for the match that kicks off at 7:35pm on Saturday.